Dennis Cahill                                              Updated: 29 MAR 2021

Airman: a091001.htm Surname: Cahill Init: D Rank: Sgt Service: RAF Sqdn: 44

P_link: p378.htm Plane: LAN PB235 Operation: Minelaying Crash_site: Risgårde Bredning

Crash_d: d041044 Buried_d: b071044 C_link: c091.htm At_Next: Strandby

  Risgårde Bredning. "På mineudlægningsoperation den 4. oktober 1944 nedstyrtede et Lancaster fly i Risgårde Bredning" (FAF) omkring her. Se i Weekendavisen den 9. april 2010
Da krigen kom til Salling (pdf 3,05 MB) af Hans Mortensen om dette fly! Modtaget fra forfatteren. Zoom for at se detaljer. Se også Google Map p378 Lancaster.

FAF: Sgt D. Cahill blev fundet som lig af fiskerne Hans og Niels Peter Nielsen, Risgårde. Den tyske værnemagt ville have liget i en sæk, men egnens befolkning protesterede herimod. Det endte med at flyveren blev lagt i en kiste. Begravelsen blev foretaget af værnemagten.
Begravelsesprotokollen: "Paa Beboernes foranledning blev han (af Tyskerne) begravet her på militær Vis Lørdagen den 7. Oktober kl. 18."
FAF: Lærer Sigvardsen havde forhørt sig hos tyskerne, om befolkningen måtte deltage i begravelsen. Han fik det svar, at når tyskerne havde forladt kirkegården, så kunne befolkningen gøre, hvad den ønskede.
Mens kirkeklokkerne fra Strandby kirke ringede solen ned, samledes mange af egnens beboere ved graven. Man sang bl.a. "Altid frejdig - -" og lærer Sigvardsen bad Fadervor.

Inskription på soklen af gravstenen: Rejst af danske venner

Sergeant (Air Gunner) Dennis Cahill, 23 år, var søn af Thomas og Mildred Powel Cahill,
Scawthorpe, Yorkshire, United Kingdom. (Kilde: CWGC)
1 blev begravet i Strandby, 1 i Skive (se monument også om de andre faldne) og 1 i Aalestrup.
2 forsvandt i havet. 2 reddede livet og blev taget til fange. Se Lancaster fotos. 
Historisk Samling og Arkiv Himmerland har mere om dette fly og dets besætning. 7 flyvere. 

 Risgårde Bredning. "On a minelaying operation on 4 October 1944 a Lancaster crashed in Risgårde Bredning" (FAF) about here.
See also Google Map p378 Lancaster.

FAF: Sgt D. Cahill´s body was found by the fishermen Hans and Niels Peter Nielsen, Risgårde. The German Wehrmacht wanted to put the body into a sack, but residents of the area protested against it. Finally the airman was laid in a coffin. The burial was carried out by the Wehrmacht. The Burial Register: "At the instance of the residents he was buried (by the Germans) in military manner on Saturday, 7 October, at 6 p.m."
FAF: Teacher Sigvardsen had asked the Germans, if people could attend the funeral. He got the answer that when the Germans had left the churchyard they could do what they wanted. As the church bells from Strandby Church rang for sunset many residents of the area gathered at the grave. They sang "Always dauntless - " and teacher Sigvardsen said The Lord´s Prayer. Inscription on the base of the gravestone: Erected by Danish friends

Sergeant (Air Gunner) Dennis Cahill, 23, was the son of Thomas and Mildred Powel Cahill, of Scawthorpe, Yorkshire, United Kingdom. (Source: CWGC)
He is remembered on The Walls of Names at the International Bomber Command Centre, Phase 1, Panel 16.

1 airman buried in Strandby, 1 in Skive (see monument also to the 4 other KIA) and 1 in Aalestrup. 2 disappeared at sea. 2 saved their lives and became prisoners of war.
See No. 44 Squadron RAF (Wikipedia) No. 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron Association * No. 44 Squadron (RAF): Second World War. RAF-Lincolnshire.info: 44 Squadron. 
Lancaster III PB235 KM-C took off from RAF Spilsby at 17.24 hrs on 04 OCT 1944.(Source: Aircrew Remembered has this.) p378MACR * Lancaster Photos.7 airmen.